Now that I've listened to it a few times, I must say that I really like Black Gives Way to Blue. I think it's rather impressive that AiC was able to make an album of this quality without Layne.
I was skeptical about this, but I bought it anyway. I am surprised at how good it really is. I thought Layne was irreplaceable, but the vocals on this album are really high quality, and I always enjoy whatever music Jerry creates . Good stuff!